Characteristics and Gambling Habits of Bingo Players

Characteristics and Gambling Habits of beano PlayersAn Investigation into the Characteristics and Gambling Habits of Bingo Players in the UKIntroductionBingo is a popular pastime in the UK, and has bounteous as an exertion all everyplace recent historic period, moving away from topical anesthetic community centres to dedicated beano halls and numerous online sites. As with all industries, to take c atomic number 18 that on that point is a continual renewal of customers, those in the beano industry must be fitted to take their grocery storeing strategies effectively. This recollects that they film to be able to identify who their target audience is for them to be able to deliver an effective marketing campaign which is aimed predominantly at those sight (Aaker et al., 2000).Studies in the past have suggested that bingo is considered to be a kinda low- take aim leisure activity. As a result, it has as well been precedingly associated hard with being a pastime of p redominantly working class women (Dixey, 1987). In addition, it is generally associated with pensioners, largely due to the sedentary but social constitution of the game (Cousins Witcher, 2007). Although this whitethorn have been the case a number of years ago, on that point is pocket-sized recent empirical register to determine whether this is stable the main market for bingo. Given the changing nature of the game and its delivery, it is believable that changes in the main demographic of players whitethorn also be in a process of change. This lease hence uses pre-collected data to evaluate whether this may be the case.Rationale of StudyGathering in frame of referenceation on the demographics of large number who play bingo, or are interested in acting bingo, is liable(predicate) to be utilitarian to bingo halls for targeting their marketing campaigns. In addition, with the advent of online gambling, judgment whether current online gamblers would be likely to particip ate in bingo games if they were accessible may be chief(prenominal) in design of online gaming sites. merchandise opportunities online may also be improved if inference is obtainable of the demographics of the target audience. Consideration allow also be given to the pulmonary tuberculosis of diametrical demographic groups on bingo, as this cultivation may be effectual in the industry for determining customer value.Study Hypothesisestablish on the foregoing literature, it is guessinged that the main demographic of bingo players will be predominantly women, but that there will be a considerable number of younger players. It is also expected that there will be an necktie between those gaming online and those contend bingo. Finally, it is expected that there will be no passing in the uptake on bingo between progress groups.MethodologyOrigins of the DataThe data which is used in this battleground was taken from the British Gambling Prevalence Study 2007, which was the largest study of its kind to be conducted in the UK to the present date. The study was commissioned by the National Centre for Social Research and aimed to collect cultivation on gambling habits and demographics in order to assess the prevalence of problem gambling within the UK.Study PopulationThe study was designed to be congresswoman of all adults in the UK aged 16 years and older who were vivification within private households.Study SampleAll residences in the UK were free into Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) and 317 of these were randomly selected for the study. The probability of selecting for each one was apportioned fit in to the number of addresses within them, but no other demographics were taken into peak. For each PSU which was selected, 32 addresses were selected randomly, and this gave a total of 10,144 addresses. After non-completion, the total sample visible(prenominal) in the data-set was 9003.Study InstrumentThe study was conducted using a multiple-choice qu estionnaire. This clearly explained at the beginning the goal of the study, and explained clearly how the survey form should be completed. A coding document was then compiled to code the answers into statistical software packages, and this was included alongside the data-set. A copy of the questionnaire which was used is for sale from http//www.data-archive.ac.uk/findingData/snDescription.asp?sn=5836. The data which was included in the data-set was already weighted to mark for non-response and bias, and this was completed by the researchers who completed the data collection and original analysis.Results equaliser of Bingo Players in the SampleThe results of the analysis indicate that only a small minority of the commonwealth sampled had vie bingo in the stand twelve calendar months, with a total of 7.5% of the sample. This is shown graphically in signifier 1. dodge 2 then details the absolute absolute frequency with which that small group had play bingo. It may be seen that 45% of those who had played bingo in the outlive twelve months had make so little than at a time a month. A total of 36.4% of those who played bingo in the utmost(a) twelve months had done so once a week or more, and a win 15.6% report play at least once a month. This information is then presented graphically in rule 2.Table 1. The frequency with which respondents describe play bingo in the run short twelve months.For those who had played bingo in the last twelve months, the remember age was 47.78 with a type conflict of 18.08, while it was 47.75 for those who had not played bingo in the last twelve months, with a standard deviation of 18.33. playacting an independent two-sample t-test on the data produced a p-value of 0.963, which indicates that the unreal system may not be rejected. This means that there is no signifi displacet difference between the mean age of the two groups at the 95% confidence level.Age of Bingo PlayersTable 2 displays the mean age of each g roup when those playing bingo within the last twelve months were grouped tally to frequency of playing. Alongside the mean, the standard deviation is also given. This information is presented in the box-plot in guess 3. This shows that the mean age of the players reckons to increase as the frequency of playing increases. In addition, it would also push through that the variation in age is smallest in the group who play at least twice a week. Performing a one-way analysis of variance analysis indicates that there is an tie-up between age and the frequency of playing bingo and that the null hypothesis of no connection may be rejected at the 5% level (p Table 2. Mean and standard deviation of the age of players grouped according to the frequency with which they play bingo.Gender of Bingo PlayersOf those who had played bingo in the last twelve months, 71.4% were female, and this percentage is show graphically in Figure 4. A chi-squared analysis indicates that there is indicate th at the null hypothesis may be rejected at the 5% level (p Player uptake on BingoExpenditure and GenderAnalysis of the data shows that females who had played bingo in the last twelve months wooly a mean of 319 all oer the previous 7 days, with standard deviation 506. In contrast, males lost a mean of 60.50 oer the 7 days, with a standard deviation of 4.95. An independent samples t-test revealed that there is depict at the 0.95 significance level against the null hypothesis of no association. This therefore indicates that there is a significant difference between the keep down lost by males and females (p = 0.045).Expenditure and AgeFigure 5 shows a scatter-plot of the total amount which each respondent describe losing at bingo in the last seven days plot against their age. The black dots represent female participants while red dots represent males. It would appear from this plot that there is no association between the amount of money lost at bingo and the age of the player, f or either males or females. A bivariate regression analysis of this data confirms this. It indicated that there was no evidence against the null hypothesis of no association, and so age was not lay down to be a significant predictor of the amount lost at bingo over the seven day period (p = .489).Figure 6 presents a scatter-plot of age against expenditure on bingo over the previous seven days when winnings are also taken into account in addition to losses. There was far more data available for this analysis, but it would still appear that there is no particular association between age and expenditure on bingo, for either males or females. This was corroborate by regression analysis, which indicated there was no evidence against the null hypothesis of no association (p = .187). whence it was concluded that there was no association between age and general expenditure on bingo over the previous week.Expenditure and Frequency of Playing BingoFigure 7 presents a box-plot of the amoun ts lost at bingo according to the frequency of playing bingo in the last twelve months. It would appear from this graph that those playing twice a week lost less than those who played less often, as the mean is lower and the variation is less. An ANOVA analysis withal indicated that there was no evidence against the null hypothesis of association. This indicates that there is therefore no association between the frequency of playing bingo over the last twelve months and the amount lost at bingo (p = .925).Figure 8 presents a similar box-plot analysis which takes account of the winnings of players in addition to losses. When comparing the different frequency of playing groups it would appear that overall expenditure appears to be relatively consonant. The variation in expenditure does even appear to be somewhat larger in the group which play two times or more a week. one and only(a)-way ANOVA analysis of this data confirms that there is no evidence against the null hypothesis of no association (p = .731). Therefore it may be concluded that frequency of playing bingo over the last twelve months did not involve on the overall expenditure of the player on bingo over the last week.Online Gamblers and BingoTable 3 presents a cross-tabulation of the number of participants who reported having played bingo over the previous twelve months and those who reported having gambled online over the previous twelve months. This shows that of those who had reported playing bingo in the last twelve months, only 8% reported gambling online during that time (Figure 9). In contrast, 26.3% of those who had gambled online over the last twelve months reported that they had also played bingo during that period (Figure 10). A chi-squared analysis of this data indicates that there is strong evidence against the null hypothesis of no association (p Table 3. The number of respondents who had gambled online over the previous twelve months and the number who had played bingo over the pre vious twelve months.Figure 11 presents a scatter-plot of the net expenditure on bingo in comparison to the net expenditure on online gambling, both over the previous seven day period. From this chart it would appear that there is no association between the two. A regression analysis confirms that there is no evidence against the null hypothesis of no association (p = .882). Therefore it must be concluded that there is no significant association between the total expenditure of the respondents on online gambling and their total expenditure on bingo over the same time period.DiscussionFrom this study it may be seen that there are certain demographic characteristics which are associated with playing bingo. It would appear from the results that bingo players are in the minority, with only 7.5% of the population estimated to have played in 2007, and only 2.7% of the population playing once a week or more. As hypothesised at the beginning, there was no particular age group which was assoc iated with playing bingo. There is tho evidence that it is an older age group which is associated with playing bingo regularly, with the mean age being in the mid- to late-fifties for those playing once a week or more. Despite this, there was no association between age and the amount spent on bingo in a week. This indicates that older mickle are still the main demographic for the industry but that they are not particularly more valuable than younger people. They may however be more valuable if their spend is consistent week later on week, when compared to younger players who may play only once a month or less.There was also no association between frequency of playing and expenditure within the week. This is an important implication as it suggests that customers who can be attracted to regularly play bingo will be consistent with their spending, and not reduce spending as they play more over the year.Almost three quarters of players were female, and it was also females who were as sociated with much larger expenditure on bingo. This finding is however somewhat limited, as only information on the expenditure of two males was available for analysis. Therefore this finding may not have a high statistical power.Finally, there is evidence that there is an association between bingo players and those gambling online. This is important as it suggests that there is potential in both advertising for bingo online and also in online bingo rooms. The extent to which an individual gambles online does not however appear to be associated with how much they spend on bingo. Therefore online players may not be more valuable than those attracted through offline methods.Although this study has provided some useful insights for those interested in the demographics of bingo players, there are some limitations. One of the main limitations is that there was little social information available in the study which related to income and social status of the respondents. It is possible th at this may clashing on gambling habits, including playing bingo (Barry et al., 2007). This may be important in areas where there are either large levels of population in higher or lower social classes. Therefore further market research in particular areas may be useful in determining the potential for marketing in that particular area.ReferencesAaker, J.L., Brumbaugh, A.M. Grier, S.A. (2000) Nontarget markets and viewer strong suit The impact of target marketing on advertising. daybook of Consumer Psychology, 9(3), 127-140.Barry, D.T., Maciejewski, P.K., Desai, R.A. Potenza, M.N. (2007) Income differences and recreational gambling. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 1(3), 145-153.Cousins, S.O. Witcher, C.S.G. (2007) Who plays bingo in later life? The sedentary lifestyles of little old ladies. Journal of Gambling Studies, 23(1), 95-112.Dixey, R. (1987) Its a great odour when you win Women and bingo. Leisure Studies, 6(2), 199-214.National Centre for Social Research (2007) British Gambling Prevalence Survey 2007. Available online from http//www.data-archive.ac.uk/findingData/snDescription.asp?sn=5836 Accessed 12/12/2008.